


Poker Face

by MadamRed



Series: 400-Follower Celebration (Tumblr) [10]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Banter, Established Relationship, F/M, Friendship, Poker, Team Dynamics, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-01-14
Packaged: 2018-09-17 09:02:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9314681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadamRed/pseuds/MadamRed
Summary: Writing prompts requested on Tumblr: “Did somebody say ___? I love ___!” & “You love me, really.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N :** I know pretty much nothing when it comes to poker, so I apologise in advance if something doesn’t make sense! Do let me know if I screwed up too much and I’ll fix it!

‘How do I look?’ you asked your boyfriend of six months.

‘Absolutely gorgeous,’ David told you, as he grabbed you by the hand and twirled you before hugging you from behind. He locked eyes with you in front of his enormous mirror and added, ‘As always, of course.’

‘David, come on! I’m being serious! This is _the_ team... your family. I want to make a good first impression,’ you said turning around in his arms to face him properly.

‘And you will! Once you stop worrying about it!’ he laughed, which didn’t help to get rid of your frown. ‘Just relax. They will like you, I promise.’

‘Fine,’ you knew he was right, but it was still a big deal! ‘Do you have everything ready for the barbecue today?’

It was 6 pm and the guests were going to be arriving soon.

‘Yes, everything is under control, _tesoro,’_ he told you before kissing you deeply. And you were more than happy to follow his lead. Whenever he spoke in Italian, it just did _something_ to you.

Even though he had been the one to initiate the kiss, he was the first one to speak.

‘As much as I enjoy being like this with you, we _don’t_ have the time to finish it,’ he announced, looking at his watch and kissing you on the forehead. You pouted at that but followed him downstairs; your hands joined.

While you finished setting up the table, and David started with the salads, the bell rang. Thankfully, you only had to go through introductions twice since the entire team had come together in two cars. They all had bright smiles and had you laughing pretty quickly.

You knew who everyone was instantly thanks to the photos your boyfriend had of them on his phone: the brightly-dressed blonde was Penelope; the more subdued brunette was Emily; the blonde with the beautiful blue eyes was Jennifer, or JJ; the shy, tall guy was Spencer; the equally tall, but dark-haired man was Aaron, or Hotch, and the dark-skinned, “muscular, Greek goodness” –as Penelope introduced him– was Derek.

Dinner was had and you were all enjoying a nice cup of coffee, when you excused yourself to go to the bathroom. As you came back, you found yourself alone in the kitchen. You continued onto the living room and saw that Derek and Aaron were moving some furniture around as Spencer and David set up two folded, medium-sized poker tables in the middle.

‘Okay, so, we’ll have JJ and Penelope deal. Derek, Emily and myself will be in the left table. Spencer and Aaron will be in the other,’ David announced to the group as they quickly settled down and started distributing the chips, not noticing you had come back.

The atmosphere had changed slightly, and you could feel the competitiveness in the air. This was sure going to be interesting.

‘I’m happy to sit this one out. They are after blood tonight,’ JJ murmured to Penelope as she poured herself a second cup of coffee. She had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

‘It’s actually kind of scary! Good thing poker is not my thing,’ Penelope mumbled back before taking her seat on the left table.

‘Did somebody say poker? I _love_ poker!’ you exclaimed happily, making your presence known to the room. David peered at you curiously from his chair, but the doctor beat him to it.

‘Well, good, we’re missing someone at our table. Come on, (Y/n),’ he invited you with a warm smile, and you sat down at the table on the right, as JJ took the dealer’s place.

‘So,’ you started saying as JJ gave you your pile of chips, ‘holdem, I assume?’

‘Yes,’ Spencer provided, intrigued by you. He was always excited to play against new players. ‘You okay with that?’

‘Yeap,’ was your only answer. You could feel yourself already getting into the necessary mindset.

The game started out fine. You raised a number of times and won a few hands, but it felt kind of unfair to be playing against an actual genius. Your father had taught you how to play a long time ago since you had always been curious about the game he saw on TV each week and asked a million questions, and you were good... but not _that_ good.

In the other table, Derek was already out and there was an intense stare-down going on between your boyfriend and Emily. You smiled as you refocused on the hand in front of you. You had to make a quick decision because you were the first one to bet this round. You put forward a small amount.

You had a King and a four, along with the seven and four on the board... you could work something out, but it all depended on the flop. You continued on and, between you and Spencer, Aaron was going to be out by the end of that hand. After the fourth and fifth street, you knew you had it in the bag. Unless the genius managed to match your hand, it was yours for the taking.

‘Ok, show your cards,’ JJ announced finally.

Spencer turned his without uttering a word. He had a very respectable Ace-high flush, which made you break character and smile a little as you turned your own cards.

‘Full house,’ you said.

‘Damn it,’ Spencer said under his breath, but you heard him as you took your earnings from the centre of the table.

You had been so engrossed in the game, you didn’t notice that the other one had ended and that David was now standing next to you, smiling.

‘Well, well, well,’ Derek laughed as he patted Spencer on the shoulder, ‘looks like there’s someone else who can give the genius a run for his money.’

‘I’m looking forward to playing with whoever wins this,’ Emily added, more to herself than the group. She took Aaron’s seat and studied the way you two went against each other.

In the end, you couldn’t win. Those few hands had had Lady Luck helping you out. The final match was short, but intense as Emily, once again apparently, beat Spencer. Everyone cheered and laughed at Spencer’s shock expression, but they left soon after, given that it was already midnight.

You were helping out by putting everything back into their respective boxes when David came back from the kitchen and asked you playfully:

‘What do you say to one more game?’

‘Sure, if you want to get your ass kicked,’ you replied with a wink.

The game went on in the same fashion for a while, banter coming from both of you. He had never seen this side of you and he liked it, just like each new facet of your personality he discovered.

‘All in?’ he asked you after a pause in the conversation. It was the end of the game, and you both knew it.

You just nodded, relaxing your face as much as you could, not giving anything away. You turned your cards first and he cursed out loud.

‘What’s with you and full houses?!’ he threw his cards on the table, fully aware that he had lost. You just ignored him as you gathered the cards into a neat pile.

‘Please, you know you love me, really,’ you said smugly, still feeling high from your win.

David just raised his eyes at the word you used. Neither of you had said anything regarding feelings just yet. It took you a second longer, but when you realised the implications of your comment, you dropped the deck you had in your hand and the cards fell.

You had your back to him so you closed your eyes momentarily and once you reopened them, you knelt and started picking up the cards that were now scattered across the living room floor, pretending you didn’t hear your boyfriend standing up from his chair and walking towards you.

‘Sorry about the mess,’ you mumbled as you saw him kneeling and helping you in your current task.

‘Don’t be. It happens,’ his voice was controlled and steady.

You kept your eyes on the floor, refusing to look at him directly, and so he purposefully ignored the one card between both of your bodies so that he could initiate some form of physical contact. It worked. You didn’t realise what he was doing and then you felt his hand touch yours.

‘David, I-’ you started saying as you finally locked eyes with him.

 _‘Tesoro-’_ he said at the same time and then gestured for you to go first.

‘I... wasn’t thinking when I said that! It doesn’t have to mean anything, you know? It’s just a turn of phrase and-’ you were trying to make sense, you really were, but you knew you had failed. Yet, he was giving you this adoring look while you continued to babble away, flustered. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’

‘Because it’s true,’ he told you, shrugging.

‘What is?’ you had forgotten about the original comment by now.

‘That I do, in fact, love you,’ he stood up and offered you his hand to help you up.

‘You do?’ you asked in a small voice.

‘Yes,’ he smiled as you sighed in relief.

‘Good, because I love you, too, you know?’ you grinned.

‘Good. So that’s settled, then,’ he brought you closer by the hand he was still holding, and you kissed him just like he had done in the afternoon. A little content sigh escaped from his mouth as you ran your hands through his hair.

‘Shall we continue where we left off earlier?’ you proposed, whispering right in his ear.

‘It would be my pleasure,’ he told you as you left the cards, chips and tables in the living room; the mess forgotten in view of a whole new array of ways to entertain yourselves.


End file.
